Payback
by Lady Kyridwen
Summary: *HIATUS* Uh Oh! Jareth's in a spot of trouble! Will he agree to Sarah's terms in exchange for the help he needs? What mischief with they get into if they actually work together? Updated sporadically, fair warning. Originally a submission for 4F on LFFL, April 13th.
1. Chapter 1

After a long day of finals at school, Sarah just wanted to go to bed. She was certain she aced all of them except Trig. _Ugh! I hate Trig!_ She grumbled. On top of that, _those girls_ called her crazy again. Ever since she'd told her so-called friend about her adventures in the Underground, they all had teased her mercilessly. She had thought of having them over and then calling her friends through the mirror, proving they were real, but then thought better of it. She didn't want to put her friends in any sort of danger and she certainly didn't want those brats in her house. Not that they'd come over anyway. She seriously wanted to pay them back… she just couldn't figure out how. Yet. _At least I'll be rid of them come May._ She shuffled up the stairs toward her room, ignoring the prodding questions from Karen and the quasi-interest of her dad.

When she finally crossed the threshold, she flipped on her light and looked around. Instantly he eyes were drawn to the mess on her vanity and the floor just below. There were papers scattered around and make-up and jewelry everywhere. The drawers were all pulled out in succession, and the figurines were toppled over. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

"Dammit Toby if I catch you going through my stuff again I'll bog you myself!"

Bending over, she gathered all the papers and tossed them into the nearest drawer. The makeup and jewelry she was a little more careful with, depositing them all on the vanity. _I'll go through this later. I'm just too worn out._ She changed into one of her favorite over-sized shirts and a pair of shorts, turned off the light, and slunk into bed. Just as she started to get comfortable, she heard a scratching noise under her bed. She lifted her head from the pillow and craned her neck, waiting to hear more. After a few seconds, she heard it again. _What the hell?_ Gripping the side of her bed she leaned over, her hair scraping the floor. She strained her eyes for a minute in the dark before finally realizing what she was seeing. She screamed and promptly fell on the floor in a heap of flailing limbs and blankets.

"What's going on up there Sarah?" Dad yelled up, obviously hearing the commotion.

"Nothing! Bad dream! Fell out of bed!"

She paused a minute to listen for steps. When nothing came, she righted herself and peered under the bed again.

"Jareth? What the hell are you doing here?"

The little figure huffed. "It's not as though this was _planned_ , Sarah."

Sarah reached under her bed and scooped up the miniature Jareth, who immediately started scrabbling around trying to get free. She wrinkled her nose. She was not amused.

"Ah, ah, ah. Be good or I'll lock you in an oubliette of my own, like Toby's toy chest." Jareth stilled, though from the look on his face, he wasn't too keen about it.

"Just help me get back to normal. I can't rule the Goblin Kingdom like this! The goblins would chase me around like one of their confounded chickens. Or step on me!" _Or eat me_ , he thought. A little shiver ran up his spine. Sarah's cheeks puffed from trying to hold back her laughter.

"I don't know. You make such a cute little Kingy-wingy!" Sarah tickled his tummy and made silly faces at him like you would for a baby.

Jareth felt his temperature rise, his blood beginning to boil. _How dare she disobey him!_ He pointed his tiny finger at Sarah. "Don't defy me!" He had meant to sound intimidating but because of his small size, his voice only squeaked. Sarah couldn't hold it in anymore, and her laugh come out in short snorts.

"After all you put me through running your Labyrinth, _Your Majesty_ , I deserve a little payback! Besides, you have no power over me!"

She snorted some more at the struggling mini-king, but then an idea began to form. A delicious, wicked idea. A smile crept along her lips and an eyebrow quirked. She let out a little self-satisfied chuckle that was almost Jareth-like. At the sound of that chuckle, Jareth stopped moving and his brows shot up so far they were nearly a part of his wild mane of hair. He did not like the look on Sarah's face.

"I'll make you a deal, Pocket Goblin King. I'll help find a way to return you to normal, but I have a job for you first…"


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning after breakfast Sarah revealed her devious plans to Jareth, and true to form, he wasn't overly delighted at the prospect of his role in it all.

"This is most undignified!" Jareth's voice came out in a short huff.

"Well, if you want a deal, you've got to do this for me. Besides, you're an _all-powerful_ Goblin King. This should be a _piece of cake_ for you, right?" Sarah was full of snark today, and her eyes glittered with mischief.

On the vanity before her stood Jareth, dressed head to foot in a white rat "costume" she procured from Toby's stuffed animal collection, replete with tiny rat ears she crafted from felt. His hands were on his hips and his face was practically glowing. She could even see the little vein in his neck twitch. Sarah found the overall effect adorable.

" _Everything_ is a piece of cake for me, Precious."

"You're still as arrogant as ever, even when you're the size of a Snickers bar! Well, find your own way out of Polly Pocketville, _Your Royal Shortness_!"

"I have no idea to what you are referring, but I will _consider_ your proposal, if only to restore me to my glorious self." He stripped off the costume and kicked it aside.

"Fine. I'd rather not leave you here though, Merlin might try to eat you. So, you'll still have to come with me to school anyway." It was Sarah's turn to huff. _Why did he have to be so damn stubborn?_ She gathered up her notebooks, textbooks, and pencils, shoving them into her satchel.

"Ok, let's go PGK," she said while pointing to a small pocket on the side of her bag. Grumbling, Jareth scrambled inside. Sarah looked down at the little rat suit, picking it up amusedly. _Gives a whole new meaning to Hoggles' favorite moniker of Jareth._ She let out a little giggle then and placed the suit in her pocket. "Better take it with anyway."

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The bus ride to school had been uneventful, and she had even allowed Jareth out of his hiding place so he could look out the window. Now, she glanced furtively around as she walked down the hall. Her whole body felt tense and her palms were clammy. Turning a corner, she spotted what she had been trying to avoid. She kept her eyes averted, hoping that today _they_ wouldn't notice her. She picked up her pace as she neared them. Suddenly, she felt something hit her right ankle, and then the floor came rushing to meet her face. She landed on the tiled floor in a resounding thwack as the air rushed from her lungs, her satchel sliding from her side to land just in front of her. She could see Jareth looking at her from the pocket, and then three sets of trendy shoes slid into her view. She closed her eyes and let a placid mask fall onto her features. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her ruffled.

"Oh, look who dropped by! It's Schizoid Sarah. Having trouble with those feet of yours today?" Kimberly's sickly-sweet voice rang in her ears. Sarah remained motionless, long ago learning that although silence didn't lessen the amount of attacks, it certainly shortened them.

"Maybe she needs some help? Why don't you call your friends, huh? I'm sure they'd rush right to your side, if they were _real_." Michelle's voice dripped with sarcasm. Her comments always hurt Sarah the most. Her betrayal had wounded Sarah to her core, and now she doubted if the girl had ever really been her friend at all.

"I doubt they'd come. Seriously, who'd want _her_? Even her own mother didn't want her." Heather's voice rounded out the terrible trio.

Sarah heard them all laugh at the awful joke, willing the tears not fall even as they welled up behind her lids. Hearing their steps and the laughter grow fainter, she took several deep calming breaths and opened her eyes. Jareth's eyes met hers, and he looked livid. She could almost envision smoke coming out of his ears. A wan smile formed on her lips. _Laugh so you don't cry, right Sarah?_

Jareth couldn't believe what had just occurred. He was absolutely incensed. Was this how his Champion was treated? She said she wanted him to cause some mischief for a set of girls who kept giving her grief, but he hadn't known it was this bad. There were many questions he needed answers to, but Jareth was a Fae, and one thought became startlingly clear; _revenge_.

"Give me the rat suit." Jareth spoke through clenched teeth. Even in his tiny squeak of a voice, it was evident he was not happy.

"What?"

"Give. Me. The. Suit."

Sarah's smile widened. _Oh, this is going to be fun_.


	3. Chapter 3

Sarah picked herself up off the floor, dusted her pants, and carefully grabbed her satchel. Checking her watch, she headed toward the nearest restroom, keeping her eyes down the whole time. Shoving the door open, she made her way to the farthest stall. The lock made a resounding clank in the empty room, and Sarah let out a long breath as she sat down on the toilet. She turned her bag around, reached into the pocket, and pulled out a disgruntled Jareth. Before she even got him to eye level, she could see his pinched face and the way his mouth was set in a thin line. She took another deep breath, readying herself for the questions she knew were coming.

"Does this happen often?"

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. "Couple times a week. It's not always so public though."

"How long has this been going on?"

Sarah cast her eyes to the left of the stall, avoiding his eyes. She tried to concentrate on the words jaggedly scraped onto the wall, "principal dunthers is a cow."

"Sarah."

She finally looked back at him, biting her lower lip. "Three years or so."

Jareth's face flushed in frustration. "Three years? THREE YEARS? You never once told anyone? Sir Didymus? Ludo? Hugrump? NO ONE?"

Sarah was thoroughly grateful the restroom was empty at this point, as Jareth's high-pitched squealing was actually quite loud, like one of those cheap children's whistles you could get out of the quarter machines.

"What would they have done? It's not exactly like they can go prancing around the school."

"They could have told ME!"

"You would have stolen their siblings! Or sent them to the bog!"

Jareth huffed indignantly. "I do NOT steal little children. I ONLY take those that have been wished away. As for the bog… you may be right. With their foul temperaments, I might have been inclined to forced them to live there permanently."

Sarah let a few giggles escape her lips, the sudden image of Kimberly standing knee deep in the Bog of Eternal Stench with a horrified expression lightened her mood significantly.

"As much as I would have enjoyed that, I'd still have to go to school with them, and it'd be completely unfair to the rest of the students to have to put up with that stench. Listen, we haven't got a lot of time here. I've got four class periods before lunch. I share some of my classes with those girls, so I need you to behave until then. Otherwise, we'll blow our plan, and they'll find out about you."

"When do we carry out this plan of yours?"

"As soon as most students have sat down to their lunches."

"Give me the suit and explain it once more."

Sarah pulled the rat suit from her pocket and set him on the ground so he could slip it on.

"Alright, this is what we're going to do…"

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Three hours later, Sarah was making her way to the end of the lunch line, slice of pizza and cheese fries on her tray. After paying the lunch attendant for the fries, she turned to spy her quarry. She spotted them huddled at a table in the far left of the cafeteria, so she found a spot at a table close to the lunch lines, far enough away so as not to incur blame for what was about to happen. _So glad he didn't lose all his magical abilities when… whatever it was happened. He'll be able to poof himself over there and back without notice._ She sat down, setting her bag on the table next to her tray. Jareth poked his head up from the pocket.

"They're at the second table on the left, the one next to the windows."

Craning his neck, he could just barely make out the windows along the wall.

"You'll have to lift me out to see!"

Trying to be as subtle as possible, Sarah stood, lifted her bag and pretended to search for something inside.

"See them yet?"

"I don't… wait! I see them."

She sat back down and set her bag next to her tray once again. Her brow creased as she had second thoughts. "Are you going to be ok doing this?"

Jareth fixed her with a steady gaze. "It would be my pleasure." With that, he was gone.

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Over on the far left of the room, the Terrible Trio were deep into a discussion on the latest fashion trends. Meanwhile, underneath their table, Jareth was diligently tying each girls' shoelaces together. Once his work was done, he gingerly climbed on top of the shoe he had just finished tying. He clenched his jaw and steeled himself for the next step. _She had better not breathe a word of this to anyone. Ever._ Carefully he positioned himself, and with one last breath, plunged himself underneath jeans covering the leg in front of him.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Michelle's scream split through the drone of voices in the cafeteria, making everyone stop in their tracks. "Something bit me!"

Looking down, she saw a white fuzzy body and a long pink tail scramble from under the hem of her jeans, causing her to scream in an even higher pitch than before. "THERE'S A RAT! A RAT BIT ME!" That was the signal everyone in the room had unconsciously waited for, and what followed can only be described as pure chaos. As she screamed, she turned to run, trying to escape the table and what was surely crawling beneath it. Her flight was hampered when she flopped over the small bench seat and landed with a hard thud on the floor. The same sound was echoed two more times as Heather and Kimberly found themselves twisted in a heap on the floor at the opposite side of the table. They each soon realized that their shoelaces had been tied together, though not one had any idea how it had been done. No one else in the cafeteria paid any attention to the girls as they struggled to get back on their feet and escape the possible rodent that had started the stampede. Kimberly shoved Heather down and used her body as leverage to get up, then grabbed onto the edge of the table for balance.

"WATCH IT YOU SKANK!" Heather screamed, her face red and eyes wild. She yanked at Kimberly's clothes, trying to pull her back down.

"LET GO YOU WHORE!" Kimberly promptly yanked Heather's hair, which resulted in her falling backward, Heather having grabbed her legs. They began to roll around the ground, clawing at each other and shouting various other obscenities, the rat completely forgotten.

"HELP ME UP!" Michelle's voice was lost on the fighting pair. She looked around at the fleeing students, her two friends locked in their struggle, and decided to army crawl herself away as fast as she could.

Across the room, Sarah stood with Jareth on her shoulder, their lips turned up into disturbingly similar smirks. No one even looked their way as they stood still, watching the entire scene unfolding before them. After a few moments, Sarah lifted her bag and let Jareth slide down into the pocket. Grabbing her tray, she walked calmly over to the nearest garbage can and emptied it, finally returning the tray to the stack to be washed. As she made her way to the cafeteria doors, she turned back one last time to see Kimberly and Heather still fighting and Michelle crawling toward the exit she was standing by. Their eyes met in that short moment. Sarah smiled and waved, then watched as Michelle's face contorted into a scowl. Content with her mischief, Sarah turned and left.


End file.
